Wednesday, January 11, 2017

At
noon on Jan. 20, Donald John Trump will take the 35-word oath of office and become
the 45th president of the United States. The oath is prescribed in
the Constitution, but much of what happens during the peaceful transfer of
power is rooted in tradition. Get ready for the big show and test your H.Q. – Historical
Quotient – with our 10-question quiz. Answers are below.

1 1) Presidential
inaugurations used to be on March 4. Why are they on Jan. 20, a day that’s
often snowy and bone-chillingly cold?

A.Washington
was rainy and muddy in March, and carriages got stuck.

B.The
Supreme Court picked it.

C.The
20th Amendment says so.

D.It’s
when Jupiter aligns with Mars.

2) Which
president gave the longest inaugural address and what happened?

A.Bill
Clinton spoke so long that when he said “in conclusion,” everybody cheered.

B.Despite
a snowstorm, William Henry Harrison in 1841 spoke for an hour and 45 minutes
without a hat or coat. He caught pneumonia and died a month later.

C.Ronald
Reagan told so many stories about his old Hollywood days that Nancy Reagan unplugged
his microphone.

3 3) Who
gave the shortest inaugural address?

A.Abraham
Lincoln

B.Franklin
Roosevelt

C.George
Washington

4) How
did Thomas Jefferson at his 1801 inauguration break with his predecessors?

A.Jefferson
wore the clothes “of a plain citizen without any distinctive badge of office,” a
newspaper reported, unlike the elegant suits with swords favored by Washington
and Adams.

B.Jefferson
walked from his rooming house to the Capitol, rather than being driven in a
liveried coach.

C.Both
A and B

5 5) What
do canaries have to do with Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration?

A)Canaries
– roasted in cream sauce – were served at the inaugural luncheon.

B)At
the frigid inaugural ball, hundreds of canaries in cages were suspended from
the ceiling as decoration. The birds froze to death and dropped onto the heads
of dancers below.

C)First
lady Julia Grant’s hat was covered with canary feathers, setting off the first
fashion trend by a first lady.

6) Who
was the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile?

A.Warren
Harding in 1921, a Packard

B.William
McKinley in 1897, a Stanley Steamer

C.William
Howard Taft in 1909, a Pierce-Arrow

7) Which
president wore a ring containing a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair to his
inauguration?

A.Barack
Obama

B.Teddy
Roosevelt

C.Ulysses
S. Grant

D.Nobody.
This is fake news.

8 8) Match
the president with the theme of his inauguration -- Dwight Eisenhower, Richard
Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

A.“Celebrating
America’s Spirit Together”

B.“Crusade
America”

C.“An
American Journey: Building a Bridge to the 21st Century”

D.“Forward
Together”

9) Whose
inaugural address was the first to be broadcast on TV?

A.Dwight
Eisenhower

B.John
F. Kennedy

C.Harry
S Truman

10) When a citizen tried to wish this newly
inaugurated president joy in the White House, the president smiled and said: “I
would advise you to follow my example on nuptial occasions when I always tell
the bridegroom I will wait until the end of the year before offering any
congratulations.” Who was the president?

A)John
Calvin Coolidge

B)Thomas
Jefferson

C)Franklin
D. Roosevelt

Answers

1) C --
Ratified in 1933, the 20th Amendment states: “The terms of the
president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of
January . . . the terms of successors shall then begin.”

2) B

3) C – Washington’s second inaugural
address was the shortest in history at 135 words. FDR’s fourth inaugural address was 559 words, and Lincoln’s second was
700 words.